


Falling For You

by christineb101



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I know they probably actually met in school because it was almost a year but a girl can dream okay, Meet-Cute, am I researching salt lake city for this? yes, hopefully fluffy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:27:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21679750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/christineb101/pseuds/christineb101
Summary: Sometimes things just work out. Sometimes things just click. When Ricky and Nini meet at a music festival that fateful summer, it's one of the few moments when everything comes perfectly together.
Relationships: Ricky Bowen & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Comments: 10
Kudos: 109





	1. When Everything Clicks

Conversation with him felt effortless. It never dulled, never ran out, always felt easy. Even though they had only really met hours before.

* * *

When Nini agreed to go to this music festival with her best friend Kourtney, she never imagined she'd meet the love of her life.

Nini drew in a breath as she looked out at the Rocky mountains as the backdrop for the stage. Sometimes she really loved living in Salt Lake City and today was one of those days. When Kourt had suggested, no _forced,_ Nini to come along, she had been less than excited. She had a huge audition coming up in the next week and she really wanted the lead.

But here she was, standing in the middle of a crowd, staring at the mountain landscape instead of the stage. Nini did enjoy the music and spending time with Kourtney, but she hadn't anticipated a crowd this size. Sure, put her on a stage in front of this many people and she could thrive, but put her smack-dab in the middle, and she forgot how to breathe. She tried to enjoy herself and have as much fun as Kourtney seemed to be having but she just couldn't. There was too much on her mind, too much she had to worry about in the coming weeks, and too many people.

"Hey Kourt," Nini began, "I'm going to fight my way out of this crowd. I need some fresh air."

"Be careful!" Kourtney replied, yelling over the noise of the music and crowd.

"My phone is always on so text me if you need anything. Or if something goes wrong."

With a quick thumbs up from her best friend, Nini turned and began to fight her way toward the back of the crowd. She was not afraid to push, shove, and, when prompted, use her elbows to get through the mass of people. After what seemed like hours, she reached the back of the audience. It was mainly parents who had been dragged there by their children.

An empty bench stood at the edge of the crowd. Nini sat and immediately pulled out her phone. She tapped on Instagram and her eyes fell to a number of new likes from a short video she had posted that morning of a song she had written. A smile spread across her face. Suddenly she heard a voice next to her.

"-go to the same school," the boy that had appeared next to her was saying.

"Huh?" Nini interrupted, "sorry I was ... what were you saying?"

"I think we go to the same school, I think I've seen you around."

Nini gave him a quizzical look, that's not exactly the thing you want to hear from a random boy at a music festival. Although he did look familiar.

The boy noticed her look. "Sorry, I guess I shouldn't have led with that ... I'm Ricky. Ricky Bowen." He held out his hand for her to shake.

Her eyes fell to his hand, her own pausing before shaking it. She had definitely heard that name before.

When she didn't reply, he continued, "You go to East High right?"

She nodded slightly. Yeah she had definitely seen him around. Maybe in the cafeteria? Maybe they had a class together?

This Ricky kid was definitely cute. His curly hair was messy, but the kind of messy that was planned and controlled. He had on a blue hoodie, even though it was about 95 degrees out. He was definitely confident, and wanted to hold a conversation with her, even if she wasn't the easiest conversation partner. His eyes met hers and her cheeks flushed with color. She suddenly felt like she wanted to keep this conversation going.

"Yeah, I go to East High. And you definitely seem familiar."

His eyes brightened when he smiled. It made her smile.

"Small world," Ricky whispered, then louder, "so you're a fan of this band?"

"I like music, but it's my friend Kourtney who's the fan," Nini answered, "I have pretty specific taste," Show tunes mostly, "what about you?"

"This band is great and all, but I'm a big fan of the next one. I'd highly recommend them, if you stick around."

Nini blushed. She knew it wasn't really anything, just a recommendation. But she blushed nonetheless.

"I'll have to think about that," she smiled, as Ricky and his soft curls took over her mind completely.

Ricky smiled back at her, his eyes meeting hers once more, then falling to the crowd in front of them. They were met with silence, aside from the cheers from the crowd.

"Nini," she blurted, Ricky's eyes drew back to her, questioningly. His smile faded, only slightly, as he processed their conversation and what he must have missed.

"I just-I realized I never said my name. It's Nini. Nini Salazar-Roberts."

There was that award winning smile again. Oh, she was not falling for a random boy ... or was she?

"Well Nini Salazar-Roberts, I should go find my friend Big Red but if you're still around for the next band," Ricky pulled out his phone, his case was covered in stickers. She recognized one as a guitar brand, "you should find me." He handed her his phone and she quickly put in her number.

She did the same and with another smile, he was gone. Disappeared into the crowd.

Nini smiled to herself. Did that really just happen? A cute boy who liked music just gave her his number. What timeline was she living in?

* * *

Nini found Kourtney in the crowd after what seemed like days of searching. After Nini explained the events of the previous moments, her eyes shifted from the ground to Kourtney's face. Her mouth hung open.

"You need to text him!" She yelled, "Right now!"

"But Kourt, we just split up, I don't want to seem desperate."

"If you're accurate in your description of him, many girls are going to try to pick that boy up. Especially at a music festival like this. Screw desperate. Text him!"

Nini paused. Would so many girls really be after him? And he picked her to talk to?

"You're right, I'm going to text him."

"That's my girl!"

Nini wrote out a message to him. Her finger wavered over the send button.

"Just send it," Kourtney pushed, leaning over her shoulder.

Nini did send it.

**_Hey, it's Nini._ _The girl you met at the music festival. I'm still here and I believe you told me to find you when this band was playing :)_**

A minute later, Nini received:

_**It's like you think I won't remember you! I'm to the right of the crowd, but pretty far back** _

Nini shot back:

**_I'm also to the right, I'll work my way back and see if I can find you_ **

All she received back was an emoji. _**:)**_

After many times yelling "Ricky!" to the point where Nini thought she was going to lose her voice, she finally found him.

They tried to talk over the noise of the crowd and the band until Nini realized, "I should be listening to the music! You said you're a huge fan of this band, it must be good!"

It was Ricky's turn to blush. A smile cracked on Nini when she noticed.

Both Nini and Ricky were quiet for quite some time, taking in the music and lyrics. She really enjoyed the band and their sound. But being in the middle of crowds was still a lot for her.

"I think I need to step out for a second," Nini divulged, "I love the music but crowds are-crowds are a lot for me."

"That's totally understandable. I'll come with you," Ricky replied.

He held out his hand and, after a slight pause, she took it. Better to not lose him in the crowd. And other reasons. They weaved and shoved through mounds of people. It seemed never-ending until they finally made it out.

She expected him to drop her hand. He didn't. Even when they made it to their original bench and sat down. Her hand remained in his. Her eyes traced a line from his hand over his body to his eyes. He was grinning a childish grin that he must have assumed she wouldn't see. He was so cute. Then their eyes locked, she smiled, and his smile grew.


	2. Start of Something New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First dates don't always have to be awkward, right?

**_hey_ **

**_are you free this weekend?_ **

When Nini opened her phone to see those texts, her heart jumped. What was the procedure for this? She had never been in a relationship before and- No, she shouldn't jump to conclusions. They had barely even met each other.

But she couldn't help herself.

In attempts to make herself seem cooler, she replied:

_**depends. why?** _

A couple minutes later, her phone dinged with a reply.

**_thought we could do something together. if you want to_ **

A smile lit up Nini's face. She pictured Ricky sitting on his bed, his face lit up from the light of his phone. Her smile grew.

**_i'd love to do something:)_ **

The conversation went on like that until they had planned when and where they would go.

* * *

Saturday night. 6:58pm. Nini stared at the digital clock that stood on her nightstand. They had agreed Ricky would pick her up in his bright orange car at 7. She would be lying if she said she hadn't been thinking about this moment all day. Finally, her phone dinged with a text that said one single word.

_**here** _

Even that one word had the ability to make Nini's heart beat faster. She ran downstairs but slowed herself before heading out the door. Once she reached the car, she opened the passenger side and sat down.

"Hey!" Ricky began, his eyes bright, a smile forming on his face. His curls looked messy, but Nini was sure he had spent some time getting them to look that way. He was wearing another hoodie, even though they still lived in Utah. And it was still summer. Nini would never understand boys.

"Hi!" Nini replied, returning his smile and buckling her seatbelt, "I'm excited to see what this diner has to offer."

They had agreed to get dinner at a little restaurant in downtown Salt Lake City then see where the night took them. She had never been the the diner but had heard great things. Most of them from Ricky.

"Oh it's amazing! It has great food, and it's set up like it's from the 50's!"

"Like Grease!" There was a pause. Ricky's smile faltered, almost imperceptibly. But he just nodded and put the car in reverse.

* * *

They arrived at the diner a little while later. Nini's heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. He was so cute and easy to talk to, it had to be too good to be true. Ricky got out of the car and got to the other side to open her door before she even had a chance to argue. His brown eyes locked with hers as she got out of his car. His dorky little smile returned.

They entered the diner and were sat at a cute little booth in the back corner. After staring at the menu for way too long, they each ordered a burger and milkshake. Now it was time to make awkward conversation. But the last time they had been together, the time they had met, conversation had been easy. Why should it be awkward now?

"So what kind of music do you like?" Nini began, remembering the guitar brand sticker on his phone case.

"I like a lot of different genres, but I've been a big fan of indie stuff recently," he answered, setting his phone down on the table, "what about you?"

"I'm big fan of musicals, so I tend to listen to them a lot. I noticed the guitar brand sticker on your phone, do you play?"

"I play, but not really well..."

"Oh stop, I'm sure you're great! We're our own worst critics."

"Well I seem to remember seeing some videos on your instagram of you singing and playing ukulele. You're really good, Nini!"

She felt her cheeks start to get warm. She knew he had seen her instagram, he had requested to follow her pretty soon after they parted ways at the music festival, but she didn't know he would _actually_ look at her posts.

She realized she hadn't answered him. "Thanks so much!" She replied, "I'd love to see some of your music some time!"

The conversation continued like that for a while, but somehow it wasn't awkward, never reached a weird pause where they both searched for something to say. Eventually their food came out and the conversation halted.

"You were right, this food is amazing!" Nini said after a few minutes.

"See! I know two things: music and food!"

"A perfect gentleman!" They both laughed. Ricky's face visibly brightened when he laughed. Her eyes drew up from his mouth to his eyes where they locked and both smiled.

Without thinking, Nini reached for her milkshake. She didn't let her eyes stray from Ricky's until she took a sip of the shake. When she set it back down, Ricky had a smirk on his face. She looked at him questioningly.

"You've got a little something ..." He cut himself off by reaching across the table and wiping a dot of whipped cream off her nose with his thumb. Nini blushed, embarrassed.

"It was cute," Ricky murmured, as if he didn't want her to hear, although she did. Musical theater ears. Nini's blush darkened, but her smile grew.

As they finished their burgers, they decided to take a walk through downtown before going back home. Ricky insisted on paying and although Nini tried to fight him on it, she eventually relented.

"Truly a perfect gentleman," she said, mocking a sigh.

"I try," Ricky laughed.

The two walked though downtown, pausing every once in a while to look at a shop window or listen to music ringing out from a bar. They continued their conversation. Not once did Nini worry about running out of topics. Talking to Ricky felt so natural, so easy. She just hoped it was the same for him. Even the pauses didn't feel awkward. She didn't feel the need to fill every open space with conversation.

During one of these pauses, she accidentally walked too close and hit his arm.

"Oh sorry," she muttered.

Ricky only smiled back at her. Then she felt a sensation that she never wanted to forget. He slowly, gently took her hand in his. Warmth filled her body, starting with her hand. Her gaze hit the concrete sidewalk then turned to rest on their hands intertwined for just a second before she looked back up at him, smiling.

"That's okay," Ricky replied smoothly, his smile brightening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi hope you guys enjoy! been feeling inspired recently :) this is what happens when you have a million things due and finals are in two weeks and you're trying to avoid all of it! please comment and leave kudos if you enjoy! and tell me what you would like to see these two do next!


	3. Delicate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is this the start of something new?

Nini always woke up smiling after dates with Ricky. Is that what they were, dates? Nini didn't know. She really liked Ricky, she enjoyed hanging out with him, texting him, but she had no idea if he felt the same. She didn't want to let herself fall for him, not unless he shared those feelings. She didn't want to end up with her heart broken.

Nini picked up her phone from her nightstand next to her bed. Texts completely covered her phone's lockscreen of her and Kourtney in front of Sharpay's pink locker. They had all come in this morning. She couldn't help herself but smile even more.

_**hey** _

**_i had fun last night!_ **

**_hope you did too:)_ **

**_maybe we can do something again tonight? idk let me know_ **

**_this is too many texts sorry ill leave you alone_ **

Nini shook her head, giggling at the last text. She began writing a response.

**_i would love to do something tonight! whatd you have in mind?_ **

A few minutes later, her phone buzzed with a response.

**_great!_ **

**_i was thinking maybe bowling?_ **

She silently cheered. She loved bowling.

_**that sounds great! do you want to pick me up at 8?** _

A moment later, a response.

_**sounds like a date:)** _

That word. _Date_. Had he purposefully used that word? Or did he not even realize he was using it?

Nini sent back a thumbs up and turned off her phone. That one specific word repeated in her brain. _Date_. Now she had to make it through the rest of the day like this.

* * *

Finally, the time came. Similar to the first time they had hung out, Nini rushed down the stairs as soon as she saw his car pull into their driveway. She slowed down when she reached the door, as to not alarm her moms, or Ricky for that matter. 

She climbed into the passenger seat of his car and they were on their way.

They arrived at the bowling alley a few minutes of semi-awkward conversation later. Ricky turned off the car before running to her door and opening it for her. Nini didn't even have the time to protest. She just shook her head and smiled.

They entered the packed bowling alley and rented their shoes and balls.

"I'm going to be honest, I didn't think a bowling alley would be this crowded," Ricky said, a slight laugh in his voice.

"Great minds think alike, it seems," Nini smiled, looking over at him. Her brown eyes locked with his. They held eye contact for a moment, neither wanted to be the one to break it.

Finally Ricky's eyes flicked to the many lanes. "I guess we should get in there, you know before they sell our lane to someone else."

Nini laughed, "I guess we should, especially with the millions of people in here waiting to take our spot!"

The two bowled and laughed together for an hour before they decided to take a break. They sat together at a free table littered with napkins and food crumbs.

"So.." Ricky began, "Do you come here often?"

Nini giggled at his attempt at conversation. "No actually I don't, but I'm enjoying it so far!"

He smiled, "Could it maybe have to do with the company?"

"Possibly." Nini met his eyes again, a breathless laugh escaped her mouth.

Ricky's eyes dropped to the table for a brief second before he met her eyes again, a goofy smile appearing on his lips.

"You're such a dork Ricky Bowen, you know that?" Nini said after a moment.

He smiled, his eyes fell once again, but this time only down a few inches, like he was glancing at her lips. Then...

"Can a dork do this?"

Nini's heart pounded as he began to lean in and their lips collided, only briefly.

He pulled back and searched her face, his eyes scanning quickly. Nini smiled approvingly, her heart continued to pound. Then Ricky returned the smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there has been too much angst recently so have a short fluff:)  
> this is short because finals are killing me but it's almost over! hope you enjoy! as always, comment any ideas you have for this story!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoy this! I'm not an amazing writer but I really enjoy it so if you want more I'd love to do more! Leave kudos and comments! Especially if you'd be interested in more!!


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